Sharp County record., 1887-04-07
THE CHURCHILL CASE.

Ond-Term BOndsmeh 10 ray go
The First and Third-Term bohusiie"
Relcased-A story of Arkansas flh"h'e
Brief History of the Case
LITTLE Rock, Ark, Feb. 5.-Ihe cele'
| brated case of the State OF Arkansas
against 7. J. Churchill, ex-State Treas
urer, for shortage in his accounts, was ue-
| cided to-day in the Supreme Court Inc
opinion was delivered by Special Juu9e
n. ], Bum. of Camden; Special Judge
George P. Smoote, of Prescott, and Asso'
| ciate Justice w. W. Smith, asserting,
This case, known as the 'Churchlil W Wue-
falcation CASE when first begun was the
| biggest sensation Arkansas had hau lor
wears. 1t was delicious morSel 10 tne
politicians generally, and a source OF al
| most general regret among the thousands
| of friends of the Churchill family III the
| South. No one even imagined or chargeu
that General Churchill was detaulter oy
| his own acts or knowledge, and the
grave errors were, and are to-day BE-
lieyed TO be due to bad and careless booK.
| keeping A brief history OF thlS case WI"
be found of general interest.
During the war General Churchlll was
| Confederate General and after recon
| struction was elected Treasurer, WhlcD
position he held until he was chosen Gov
ernor. Rightin the full blaze Of his political
| glory. when his fame was brightest Whilc
| the General Assembly was in session, the
| Senate committee on Auditor and Treas
urers books reported something wrong IN
| the Treasury This committee consisted
n Il |.
| f. Mitchell and j. B. Judkins. B0yd,
while of another political party was
| a sharp business man. Mitchell was after
ward candidate for Congress against D.
| K. Jones and defeated. This is the same
| Jones now in the United States Senate.
| After his defeat Mitchell rallied and was
elected Circuit Judge. Later he became
dissatisfied with the Democracy, and pup
| liclv proclaimed that he had Joined the
Republican party, with which he has since
affiliated. Judllins attained great popu-
larity in certain quarters over the lnVesu'
| cation, and was afterWard elevated 10 lhe
presidency of the Senate. He is now Nv
| ing in Lawrence County, at ornear Smith
| vile.
The committee, as stated above, reported
| shortage, WhereUpona special committee
was appointed to investigate the matter
after the adjournment of the Legislature
They worked along for months all through
the hot summer and at last concluded
their labors with a report showing the
shortage to be SlS)OOO At the next ses'
sion Of the Legislature, in 1883 Represent
ative Barker, of Drew County, chairman
Of the House committee on the books OF
the treasurer, raised the amount Of the
shortage to S30O.OO) This is the same
Barker who is President of the Senate now
in session
COMMENCING SUIT.
The result of all this investigation was
shaped up into legal document and snlt
was brought against 7. j. Churchill and
his bondsmen on Wednesday, May 3D. 1883
in the Chancery Court The suit covered
Churchill and bondsmen for three terms
as State Treasurer. Chancellor Carroll
appointed Hon. Thomas H. Simms, OF
Washington, Master of Chancery, to state
an account between Churchill and the
State. The Master made long and care
full examination and reported the amount
due the State to be,S3O, ,522.0l.
This finding wasJheld good by the Chan
eellleeTr Tie a tstoFueys fos-the- -bonAsmen
claimed that $50, 900 of the shortage should
be credited up to scrip burned ten years
ago, but which burning does not show on
the books of the Treasurer. None Of the
scrip has, however, made its appearance
since the burning, and it is believed it
was so destroyed They also claimed the
first and third term bonds to be invalid,
because names o certain of the bondsmen
had been erased, and the case was taken
on appeal to the Supreme Court.
The decision to-day affirms the decision
of the Chancellor as to the $1,000 due on
the second-term bond. 1t also transfers
$4,000 of the shortage of the third term to
the second OF the Sl59O0O Loughborough
bonds found to have been sold during the
first term and no credit of the transaction
made until the third term, they allow
credit and prorate $4,000 to the second
term. This made the second-tcrm bonds
men responsible for $4,000 of the short
age. The first aud third term bOndsmen
are released because of the erasure of the
names Of part of the surctics.
TIE NET RESULT.
The result of the decision is that the
second-term bondsmen are held for $2G,.
600 and the others are released. The
bondsmen are as follows, and with the
exceptions of W W. Adams, B. +. Danlcy
and ". D. Blocker, all of whom are dead,
nearly any one of them, if called on, could
pay the amount called for by the bond:
A. H. Garland, United States Attorney
General II. l., Fletcher, planter; George
F. Bancum, wholesale grocer; Thomas
Fletcher, United States Marshal; W. j,
Murphy, now merchant at Fort Worth,
Tex; Judge &. W. Williams, lawyer; i.
S. johnson, lawyer; John D. Adams, cap
itallst; Thomas Newton, postmaster; r.
II. johnson, retired lawyer; S. p. Hughes,
Governor; A. Mills, planter.
The investigation Of the case, per diem
of members Of the Senate committee and
trial costs amount to about as much as the
State will recover.
Although the bondsmen on Churchilrs
second term will have only about $4,000 to
pay, the tull amount sued for, about $ll4,-
600, will stand against Churchill as prin-
cipal, the release Of the bondsmen not re.
leasing him.